I trained regularly back home and stopped completely for my first eight months here, purely because I was intimidated by the idea of joining somewhere. Writing this for anyone in the same position, because it turned out to be much easier than I had built it up to be.
The sign-up was the part I was most worried about. In the end I went in person at a quiet time, said clearly that my Japanese is not strong, and the staff member switched to short simple sentences and pointed at things on the form. It took maybe twenty minutes.
What I would tell my past self:
Go at an off-peak time for the first visit. Less pressure on everyone, and staff have time to walk you through things properly.
Bring your residence card and a bank card. Requirements vary but those two cover most of it. I had to come back once because I did not have the right thing with me.
Learn about five words related to your sport. Not fluency, just the nouns. It removes most of the friction.
Watch what other people do for the first session and copy it. Rules about equipment, shoes, cleaning up, and where you can put your bag differ from place to place, and following along works better than asking about every rule in advance.
The training itself was the easy part, as I expected. Bodies work the same everywhere. What I did not expect was that the gym would become my main social connection outside work. Nobody talks much during training, but after a few months people started nodding, then chatting a bit, and now there are a few people I genuinely look forward to seeing.
If you are putting it off, my honest advice is to go this week rather than waiting until your Japanese improves. Mine improved partly because I went.
Anyone else train regularly here? Curious what people do about the summer, because getting to the gym in this heat is its own challenge.
#thailand#training#livinginjapan
